The Repudiate the Debt Campaign will be holding a lunchtime protest, 12:45 to 2 p.m., on Tuesday 1 November outside the Department of Finance
in Upper Merrion Street to protest against the handing over of €700,000,000 of the Irish people’s money to unguaranteed and unsecured bond-holders.
We consider this a transfer of wealth from the pockets and wage packets of Irish working people, the sick, unemployed, pensioners, and children.
This demonstration will be part of a national day of protest around the country to highlight this robbery of the people’s wealth. Organise your own event: mount your own protest in the main street of your village,town, or city. Contact your local radio stations to draw attention to
this affront to democracy.
Don’t leave it up to others, or just sit back and complain. Every voice counts; every placard raised is an act of saying No to this robbery of our people.
No party-political banners or flags.

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Hang on. If I recall correctly, the Repudiate the Dept Campaign is an initiative of the Communist Party of Ireland. What on Earth are they doing barring “party political banners or flags”?

It’s bad enough when a few misguided people push for this sort of message-policing at Occupy Dame Street, or when “community sector professionals” do it at their protests, but do we now have a left wing party trying to prevent left wing parties from being visible?

“On Tuesday November 1 at 12:45 to 2 pm, Repudiate The Debt Campaign will be holding a lunchtime protest,in Upper Merrion Street to protest against the handing over of €700,000,000 of the Irish people’s money to unguaranteed bond-holders. All are welcome but on the occasion we request that there be no political party banners or flags. On the other hand anti-bank bailout/austerity measures banners, yes please.”

:) The Ballyhea marchers and Occupy Dame Street have called for a protest and also workplace stoppages from 12.30 – 2.00 p.m.
As they do not want pp banners, I personally
would have no problem with joining in their banner-free protest. If the CPI are joining in with this, and excepting its protocol, perhaps they would clarify this. But if they are protesting in their own right, separately, why not carry their banner? Just trying to make sense of this.

Maybe – maybe – the organisers don’t want press photographs/TV shots to be a melee full of activists from competing parties (SWP/SP/ULA v SF v IRSP v WP v CPI v Uncle Tom Cobley and all) elbowing each other to get their party posters profiled and the message gets lost or the event written off as ‘Another demo by [insert name here].’

If parties can’t have their banners there, will they sulk and not turn up? They either support it or they don’t.

And if they simply can’t support it without being able to wave their banner, they could always organise their own protest.

They do organise their own protests, and anyone is allowed to bring their own placards or none.

Banning placards is an act of censorship that in the end is counter productive as that mind set will inevitably carry over into the general method of organising the campaign. This will put people off in the long run.

You also seem to be under the mistaken assumption that the presence of left wing organisations is what puts people off protesting. If only it were that simple! This kind of lazy, short cut taking approach to building the movement just won’t wash. You can’t wish away the presence of other organised groups. A serious person or organisation that wants to build any sort of mass movement has to have the flexibility to deal with already established groupings/parties/organisations and those who are newly politicised or non party.

Banning party banners and placards (and also leaflets and publications in the case of Occupy Dame Street) is censorship. In particular it’s an attempt to control and police the message, almost always pushed by less radical voices at the expense of more radical ones.

Sometimes, for instance when such censorship is being pushed by people just moving into political action, a careful and tactful response is necessary, arguing against censorship but not needlessly inflaming rows. When it’s being pushed by people who are themselves very experienced activists or even members of a political party themselves, I think it’s fair enough to be a lot blunter in response. I don’t accept that anyone in a protest movement has a right to censor me. Inviting people, but only if they toe the line set by the Communist Party isn’t a serious invitation at all.

Organise your own protests nationwide is what the CPI seem to be asking. Im sure plenty of scope for a range of banner waving from all and sundry, if you want to participate in the day of protest. Sadly what transpires on this thread is that the day of protest will not be supported by the ULA groups. Understandably if CPI and ULA do not liaise, is this the case? And whither the working class whilst you promenade?

Roasted Snow, I don’t know where you got the idea from this thread that a day of protest won’t be supported by the ULA. The ULA doesn’t take its decisions based on my whims, or those of D_D, more’s the pity.

I’m expressing my irritation at anti-political attempts at censorship within protest movements. You shouldn’t read anything into it about the attitudes of the wider ULA.

Cass Flower. Yes, the protest outside the Department of Finance at lunch time on the 1st November, has been called in response to the appeal by the Ballyhea: Burn the Bond Holders for organised protests to take place across the country in opposition to this transfer of wealth from the people to bond holders.

I am not sure what the position of Occupy Dames Street is in regards to tomorrows protest. Can’t speak for others but we did invite Occupy to take part. We respect their independence and how they reach their decisions and democratic procedures.

Everyone will come into struggle against this debt and austerity in their own way based upon their own experience or lack of experience.

So we are in solidarity with them and consider them allies at this time in this central struggle.

I bet this kind of internecine bickering has the banksters and their political allies quaking in their boots.

Meanwhile, in the big wide, world it looks the Greek goverment has been delegitimised to the extent that Papandreou is calling a referendum on the latest European ‘deal’. When they loose that presumably the government falls, and the next government will be in an interesting, if not impossible position.

Is the apoplectic reaction of the revolutionaries to requests to leave their flags at home (should they wish to attend a non-party march/demo) revealing some insecurities they may have about their own outfit?

No Alan, not in the slightest. It reveals a dislike of other people taking it upon themselves to censor us or act as message police within a protest movement. Nothing more. If you don’t want a banner, placard, leaflet or whatever from a political group, don’t take one. But whether I carry one or not is none of your affair.

I think his point re participation but not ‘branding’ hits the nail on the head (though I’m sure in light of that point he’s as well aware as most on here that, his reference to orthodox parties in Spain notwithstanding, the aversion to banners here is generated by a very specific history of a small number of formations). Good article.